Chapter 9

The warehouse had not been used in some time. Morty and Chuck spent the first hour walking around the dusty building’s interior, making sure the heaters and the air conditioners worked, the water system was in good shape, and the toilets flushed. “More room than I expected, Morty.”

“Yeah, it takes up at least half of the block. I wonder what they stored in all this space?”

“No idea. Maybe they just drove the trucks in and parked them until they were ready to deliver whatever they were storing. The roof is good; I haven’t seen any sign of leaks.”

“The place could use some paint, Chuck, but I suppose that doesn’t matter. We’ll be moving out at some point anyway, as soon as Frenchy finds us a permanent home.” Morty found that the electrical system would need extensive modification. Each major piece of shop equipment would require a separate circuit breaker, just for starters.

While he was doing his evaluation, Chuck explored the second floor. Offices would go there, above the noise and dust generated by the shop equipment. Finished, the two locked the building and drove to a restaurant for lunch. “This place will do until we get our own factory,” Morty said. “I figure we lay out the ground floor in three areas, a large one for manufacturing, a smaller one for assembly, and the rear section by the loading docks for storage. We won’t need much assembly space in the beginning, not until we start mass-producing parts. What did you find upstairs?”

“Plenty of room for offices, and a larger room we can use for meetings and a break room. Good thing, because we have to forbid coffee or munchies in the shop area. There’s just too much chance of spilling something. I’ll reserve one of the offices as my workspace, because I’ll need enough room to set up a mini computer and at least one server. The people that’ll be working on automation will need satellite stations of their own, so the computer will need the capacity to handle those, and you’ll need a satellite station to do that redesign of the rotors. Not sure you considered it, but if you’re going to shrink the mechanical parts like you mentioned you’re going to have to increase the speed of rotation, maybe use full-motor-RPM to get the same amount of impulse. That means you’ll also need to redesign the control system.”

“I’d like to kick the speed even higher if we can, Chuck. The only reason for keeping rotation speed down in the first place was because the g-forces built up as soon as the main motor kicked in. The higher-speed rotors will have to use thrust bearings to hold them in place, so that counts as a redesign too. Spinning faster increases the gee force, and the bearings we’ve been using won’t stand up to the increased stress. Not a serious problem, because high speed, permanently lubed and sealed bearings are available, but they’re also heavier; it’s just one more factor to consider in the redesign. The ultimate limit to how fast we can rotate the main impeller shaft is the mechanical limits of the material we’re using; electrically, the coils will probably work at least as well when the rotors spin faster, and maybe even better.”

“What shop machines are you going to want, Morty? Keep in mind that your shop area seems large, but when you begin putting in industrial machine tools they take up a lot of space. You’ve got to leave enough space for the workers to move around, too. That’s a safety consideration, and we don’t want anyone question our safety protocols. If they do, you can bet the government will get involved and after that, no more secrecy.”

“I’ll have the same kind of shop I’ve got at home,” Morty protested, “and there’s plenty of room there!”

“I wouldn’t say plenty, Morty,” Chuck countered. “I thought it was pretty cramped.”

“Oh, there’s room enough,” said Morty, “but I understand what you’re driving at. I’ve also got to leave room in the rear of the shop for a different kind of machine, 3-D printers. They make parts by adding material, not taking it away. One of the slowest parts of building the impeller is machining the rotors from blanks, so I figure I can print the blanks, then refine the shape through machining and some of the blanks may not have to be machined at all. While it might seem slower at first, we’ll eventually get more production in less time. I can put at least a dozen printers in the back part of the shop and leave the front for the bigger machines, the lathes and mills and precision grinders. I won’t need as many of those, using the printers to produce blanks, so that will give more room for safety around the machines.”

“If you say so,” Chuck replied. “How many computers will you need to drive those printers? I may have to add an additional minicomp that’s dedicated to shop use only.”

“The machines might have their own built-in computer, just input a program and let the printer go to work. I guess we’ll see when they start arriving, but I’m guessing we might not need a separate computer.”

“What kind of supplies do you need for the printers?” Chuck asked. “You’ll need whatever kind of feedstock they use, maybe several kinds, and you might also need different nozzles.”

“Yep,” Morty agree. “I mentioned walling off a part of the warehouse where we could store supplies, so I figure we can keep the printer supplies and different nozzles there. Anyway, I’ll talk to Frenchy later on, and as soon as he gives me the go-ahead I’ll start shopping. If I can find used machines, setting up the shop will not only go faster, we’ll also save money. I might even be able to buy machines immediately, but if I have to buy new equipment I’ll probably have to order it and then wait until it’s built. A lot of what I want is build-to-order and that can take weeks. If the choice is wait around or try to work with something I can get immediately, I reckon I can work with what’s available.”

“What about electric circuits, Morty? Does this place have three-phase capability?”

“It does, although the power company might have to increase the capacity of what’s already installed, but that’s their problem and it’s the kind of thing they handle routinely. I’ll look at the manuals when machines start arriving but I don’t think there’ll be a problem, it’s just ordinary industrial circuitry. I figure we’ll have to add separate circuits for each machine, but from what I saw there’s plenty of capacity coming into the building. I’ll get electricians to do an in-depth inspection to make sure I didn’t miss anything, though, and they’ll set up the wiring.”

“Morty, you’re looking forward to this, aren’t you?”

“I am! Considering the new people Frenchy’s hiring, the best way to get them up to speed is to show them a working model, so as soon as I’ve got the equipment ordered you bring the Bedstead here. We’ll disassemble the impellers after showing the engineers what they can do, then let them start working on improvements. We’ll use the Bedstead frame to test new impellers, although it will need to be redesigned and strengthened.”

“We’ve both got stuff to do, then,” Chuck said. “What about operating funds?”

“I’ll give Frenchy a call, and I’ll start placing orders as soon as he puts money in the account.”

“Don’t forget the upstairs, Morty. The offices will need a good cleaning and a coat of paint, plus furniture.”

The old warehouse went through a number of upgrades during the following weeks. Electricians spent a day inspecting the wiring, then wrote up preliminary work orders. They’d be back to run conduit and connect the machines when the shop equipment started arriving. Frenchy, deciding he wanted to be part of the operation, took charge of redesigning the upstairs. A large meeting room was set up near the head of the stairs, and the break area was across the hall from the meeting room. The rest of the space was divided into offices and two bathrooms, located adjacent to the break area.

New people began arriving within the week. Morty decided where each engineer would best fit in, while Panit and Frenchy assigned people to the offices. Accounting was one of the first departments established; Morty and Chuck would henceforward place orders through purchasing, part of the accounting department. This in turn was headed up by a comptroller who worked with Frenchy, keeping him updated. Payroll was another necessary part of accounting, as was a section devoted to keeping track of taxes.